


Follow Through

by Alphariuswashere



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, Chatting & Messaging, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:47:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29648754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alphariuswashere/pseuds/Alphariuswashere
Summary: Just because a person doesn't share memories with their Shadow doesn't mean Ann didn't mean what she said Alice Hiiragi's other self. Maybe if she's lucky, some of it will sink through.Persona 5 Strikers spoilers right from the get go.
Relationships: takamaki ann & hiiragi alice
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	1. Follow Through

**Author's Note:**

> Persona 5 Strikers spoilers right from the get go, this fiction being woven through and around events of the game rather than directly playing with them or retelling.

7/31/20XX

Cafe LeBlanc

Ann Takamaki watches the inspector warily while Futaba does whatever magic she does with computers on Alice Hiiragi's phone. All for nothing apparently, she's unable to turn up anything weird about her version of the EMMA app, which made Ann's own unease with the thing even worse if at all possible. The revelations about who created the MetaNav before and their end goal made a second inexplicable app that could whisk their team into the alternate reality of the metaverse made her deeply distrustful of this new one too, and she could see the same feelings reflected in her friends' faces too. Nothing good was going to be behind it and the Jails, that much she knew for sure. Whatever it was, it became a medium for someone who she didn't think was exactly a bad person to become so twisted up inside trying to avenge past trauma she became something monstrous.

Until the Phantom Thieves decided to unretire and fix that. It was what they did. And Alice was someone Ann wanted to see not just stop the mind control and exploitative bullshit, but actually do better. Their dreams were too similar, fields too close, for her to not see something worthwhile in her to rehabilitate. She hadn't lied to Alice's shadow either, she really hoped-

"Well if that's all you can get off of that, I guess I'll be returning it to it's proper owner." Inspector Hasegawa steps forward to retrieve the phone off Futaba and a moment of inspiration hits Ann. She acts before good sense can step in.

"Hold on a second. Let me see that, just a real fast thing." She twists in her booth and extends a hand.

"Sorry Gramps, she’s just that bit closer." Futaba tosses the phone Ann's way.

"H-hey, wait! That's evidence, and I can't actually let you just-" The flustered cop with his aging rock star haircut is cut off by Ann's sweetest smile.

"Oh I wasn't going to snoop on her personal stuff, Gramps. Just adding my contact information to it." She's already done what she intended to do before the man's objection was finished. "There's something I want to follow up with her about, as Ann and not a Phantom Thief." She offers him the phone from her seat which he takes with a grumble.

"You could have just said that…"

"And miss watching you squirm?" Their leader kicks back back in his booth. "You clearly have much to learn about how we operate. Gramps."

Hasegawa sighs and takes the phone. "Alright. I'm out. We'll be in touch. Remember: Sapporo, by the 8th." He departs Leblanc to the sniggering of the teenagers inside.

Ann enjoys the rest of the time with her friends, giving Hasegawa a good few hours to return the phone before she does anything else. She's at home trying to decide what volume of clothes she should cram into her bag, makeup and how much of which would go with the necessary toiletries, should she leave room in case they did any shopping on the road, should she pack her own stash of sweet snacks for tomorrow or assume there will be enough stops on the road and other vital road trip considerations when she decides to give her brain a rest and trust the phone was back where it belonged.

Ann->Alice

**Ann** : hey

 **Ann** : it's ann takamaki. from the other day

 **Ann** : obviously, sorry

 **Ann** : this is probably a really bad time. also obviously. but I just wanted to say what you did was really brave. it is hard to admit to being wrong about something or being an ass, just to yourself. it is even harder to apologize, and harder when it was about something really bad

 **Ann** : well you know. I just wanted to say that. things have to be rough right now but if you want to talk, just message me back or call or whatever

And she leaves it at that. Back to packing, focus on the future. Ann does genuinely hope Alice will reach back out to her but after a few hours and nothing she just accepts this isn't the time. _Probably pushed her a bit too soon after the change of heart, she probably assumed it was a taunt or something and just left it unread_. Well, she'll try again after the trip and puts it out of her mind for now.

\-----------

8/2/20XX

Mt. Aoba, Sendai 

Ann is stretching her limbs to work some of the ache out. It had been maybe half a year since their grand finale as the Phantom Thieves and she could not believe how rusty she felt. All of them did, really. The physical strength and stamina was there still, if anything she hasn't ever been in such good shape from her regular gym regimen she's been keeping up. But the little nuances of combat, reforging the lapsed strength of her Persona, and thinking on her feet all were still coming back. The fact that Jails didn't seem to suck the life out of you in the same way Palaces did with their mere presence helped though. She was sure Makoto or Futaba already had theories about that too, maybe because they weren't fighting a distortion in the heart of the world the whole time on a subconscious level? Instead, they came and went fairly freely, this was the second breather they'd taken today and was going to be lunch break once Akira and Ryuji returned from their shopping trip at the supermarket. There'd been some debate over curry (again), trying to replicate the gyutan from last night, or try to make salmon bowls in the vein of whatever Akira and Haru had for breakfast while she had been getting her self imposed morning run in and yogurt (with fruit of course, she knew her weaknesses and embraced them) reward for breakfast.

She had split when that argument was starting to get intense and involve extended research on phones, with Sophia's cheerful assistance. She instead bought a frozen chunk of pineapple on a stick and was relishing in the cool sweetness on a bench in the shopping arcade. The warm breeze, cool fruit and the swaying of the Tanabata streamers from the roof overhead all conspired with the fact she's spent all morning running, jumping and fighting to make her want to doze off right where she sat. Maybe she could talk the group into some kind of post lunch digestive nap? Sure a bit pre-school but they could use it, and it was definitely better than pushing too hard and puking lunch all over their metaverse outfits. 

She almost jumps out of her skin as she's jolted back to wakefulness when her phone buzzes in her pocket.

Alice->Ann

 **Alice** : This really you, Takamaki?

 **Ann** : Yep! 

**Ann** : selfie.png

**Time Out**

_Alice has added Ann to the chat!_

**Ann** : any reason we're in here rather than the message thread?

 **Alice** : I've been ignoring my messages since

 **Alice** : Look you can guess. But this way we can talk and I won't lose it in the hail of messages, since I quit almost all my servers. I saw your name and remembered our run in at the studio, so I was expecting it to be laying into me. Not that it wouldn't be deserved but I didn't want to just spend all day alone in my room reading messages like that. But I got curious since you didn't seem like that kind of person 

**Alice** : so I'm sorry it took this long to get back to you. You were probably the first person outside of my family to offer a hand in support, to a stranger you don't really like. So thanks

 **Ann** : I meant what I said before. I don't want to be friends with someone who is like what we saw

 **Alice** : oh

 **Ann** : let a girl type lol

 **Ann** : I can't be friends with someone who treats people like we saw you doing. but that doesn't mean we can't be friends now. I don't think that you are that kind of person anymore. that sort of person doesn't go on live tv and burn their career to cinders to make a public apology for bad things they did that nobody could ever normally guess they did

 **Ann** : I think that kind of person is someone I want to be friends with

 **Ann** : if that's okay

 **Alice** : if you don’t really mind it, yes. I could use a friend, I seem to have misplaced all mine while I was being the worst person

 **Alice** : not that I had many from before that. So maybe I'm just right where I've always been?

 **Ann** : well you're up one now!

 **Alice** : well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine

 **Ann** : sometimes you have to bring a little light to help people see their way. I believe in what you said at that interview, wanting to use fashion to help bring a bit of that light into the lives of others that helped you so much. Your idol career is done, but that doesn't mean you are. but we can talk about that later, gotta run. on a road trip with friends and it looks like lunch has just been sorted out. talk later?

 **Alice** : talk later. And thank you. So much

 **Ann** : no need for thanks. I just recognized we might have some stuff in common and you can't be at a good point right now. Friends help each other and we're friends now so lean on me for anything

Ann pockets her phone, smile on her face like the sun as she discards the wooden stick her pineapple came on, waving down Ryuji and Akira as they trudge down from the supermarket with arms full of meat and vegetables. It looks like the lunch and dinner plans became "we'll make them all eventually so just get buying". She doesn't notice the last message in that chat thread until later on.

  
**Alice** : I think we both know I owe you for more than that. But yeah, later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed something lighter to break things up while working on the less happy chapter in my other fiction, and after falling neck deep into Strikers over the weekend one of the nicer parts of that game's story jumped out to me. 
> 
> I really liked how the cast was specifically concerned not only with stopping the villains we run across from doing what they're doing, but the first couple are a lot less reprehensible than the Palace rulers we ran into so there's a note of wanting to see them rehabilitated and living their dreams that had gotten so far out of hand. Ann wants to actually befriend Alice and help her find some way to live her fashion designer dream even if her idol career is dead, Yusuke encourages Ango to continue trying to be a writer and promises to wait for his novel, etc. And I actually really like that, it's nice and has an air of hope to it. I've got a really firm idea of how to tell a story with Ann and Alice, and one I might do after this with Yusuke and Ango Natsume.
> 
> So what was initially intended as a one shot here is turning into probably a four or five chapter mixed regular and chat fic focused specifically on Ann and Alice Hiiragi. Hoping to keep mood light, or at least not tediously grim. Publishing rate will probably be one short chapter of this after I make myself sad writing Kamoshida being just the absolute worst in my other fic. So maybe biweekly. Definitely not going to be quite one chapter a week like I am trying to maintain on Apex. 
> 
> This also may not be covertly trying to get into writing Ann's headspace before her first major scene in my other fic, but that's a distant secondary from the fact I just flat out wanted to explore Ann's following through on her statements to Shadow Alice.
> 
> But as ever, hope anyone who reads enjoyed and feedback is always welcome.


	2. Alice Hiiragi, Ace Defective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thinking caps are put on.

Ann doesn’t see that message on her phone for a while. Team lunch becomes all consuming, her suggestion for a rest so nobody disgustingly ruins their metaverse clothing with salmon and rice. A lighter lunch of fish and grain wound up being settled on, the heavy choices all seeming too much like a dinner choice which she was somewhat grateful for. She already half filled up on chocolate dipped bananas and iced pineapple slices at the shopping arcade anyway.

Then it’s back to the Jail, the grind of Prison Keeps and patrolling shadows, the dance of stealthy exploration and violent ambush battles, and doing her best to maintain a straight face as their leader _really_ went all in one roleplaying trashy fantasy genre fic hero archetype stuff with the shadows Natsume’s psychology put in as guardians of his temples. Akira, poker faced and quiet most of the time, really seemed to be having a great time just cutting loose and acting like an enormous dork this time around and she couldn’t fault him really. It was their summer vacation, so working the brutal grind of monsters and cognitive realms or not they were all trying to cut loose and have fun. She certainly had been enthralled with the dance of fire and whips again, her inner self surging into separate being and blazing in her mind even in the real world again. It had only been half a year, and she couldn’t believe she forgot how good it felt to really cut loose.

The day passes in a haze of adventure and snack breaks, and the next time she really spares her phone a glance is to shoot a series of messages to Shiho while waiting for Akira to get dinner going. The usual stuff. I’m alive, fought monsters, here’s a cute picture she took with Futaba and Haru at the Date Masamune statue while Akira had been on one of his whirlwind snack buying sprees. That’s when she catches she missed a message in the shared chat from Alice.

Time Out

**Alice** : I think we both know I owe you for more than that. But yeah, later.

 **Ann** : so I just had a hell of an afternoon and it has been a few hours so forgive me

 **Ann** : but definitely trying to figure that one out. dinner is still an age away so maybe lack of food is part of it

 **Alice** : and we find ourselves at a crossroads. Does the sinner play coy here, stringing along the beautiful model for conversation because she’s the only one we’ve spoken to all day

 **Alice** : or do we just rip that bandage off. The latter seems more like me lately, I guess. Better to be better

 **Ann** : honesty is the best policy! :D

 **Alice** : Cool. You’re a Phantom Thief, thanks for doing whatever you did.

Ann stares down at her phone. That certainly was the last thing she was expecting. Time to by a hypocrite and lie back.

**Ann** : oh come on, you know that’s not true

 **Ann** : I’m a kind of book dumb student trying to make it as a model, not anything cool like that

 **Alice** : you wound me! And just after such a rousing single sentence on the value of honesty

 **Alice** : So how about we cut a deal? If I explain my thoughts here, you be honest with me. It isn’t a good foundation for a friendship to start with lies. Probably. I wouldn’t know

 **Ann** : you were reeeeeeeeally lonely as a kid weren’t you?

 **Alice** : just a little

Ann leans back in the camp chair she’d settled in next to the camper so she’d not be tormented by the smells inside as the kitchen was put to use. The rest of the group was scattered around, relaxing at the end of the day. “Hey! Everyone, group huddle.” Ann raps her hand on the side of the camper. “You too Akira, just open the window or something.”

The sliding glass pane opens while the rest of the group circles up on her. Most of them unconcerned, but Makoto’s eyes are lit up with worry. “Is something wrong, Ann? You’re usually not one for calling a meeting for anything.”

“Maybe.” Ann toys with her phone in her hands. “I’ve been texting today with Alice Hiiragi. She reached back out to me while we were taking our mid day break from the Jail and…” Ann laughs nervously. “Apparently has identified me as a Phantom Thief.”

The group reactions range from a surprised “Oh my!” out of Haru, to the actual laughter from the camper as Akira is for once not the one at fault for a friend or confidant figuring out their identity, to an exasperated “For real?!” out of Ryuji which gets him a sharp glare.

“Yes, for real. And I’m...wanting to maybe tell her the truth. Not all of it, but that she got me. I’m hoping to make her explain her logic first, see how good it is, but…”

“But you were not going to so casually expose the truth of our group without at least consultation.” Yusuke inclines his head.

“It wouldn’t feel right, yeah.” Ann hugs her phone to her chest.

“Most of the time I got figured out there really wasn’t any denying it.” Akira’s head pokes out of the camper.

“Or because I’d figured you out well before asking anything.” Futaba snickers from the chair she’d commandeered.

“Or that. I say if she seems like she’s got us, tell her.” The messy head of black hair retreats and dinner cooking resumes.

**Ann** : Fine then, deal. you tell me what you’re thinking and I tell you how wrong or right you are

_Alice has changed display name to Detective Alice_

**Detective Alice** : behold.jpg

 **Ann** : is that a fucking deerstalker hat? why do you even have one? also, nice new hair color. jfc that’s a lot of makeup still. did you do that just for me?

 **Detective Alice** : I have a whole prop closet. Don’t even try me on that. And thanks! I got bored and stared resentfully at the stranger in the mirror for an hour or two this morning and decided it was time for a change. I felt like deep purple makes for a nice look of vague sorrow and yes. All I have right now in my life is theatrics, some residual self disgust, and videogames. 

**Ann** : that doesn’t sound healthy…

 **Detective Alice** : Definitely not. Anyway, here’s how this situation looks from my point of view.

 **Detective Alice** : So first of all, you know we went to school together? That’s how I knew you in the hall at the studio right off the bat. Everyone knew the hafu underclassman that depending on the rumors of the day was either a total slut, frigid bitch, or victim of circumstance. I never believed any of the rumors about you, not that it really helps now. 

**Ann** : that actually does mean a lot, thank you! :D

Ann had known she and most of the other Thieves shared the school with Alice, but no use bringing that up. The fact she was there at the same time as them was throwing her though, she’d assumed Alice must have been a year or two ahead of Makoto and Haru even.

**Ann** : so would it be weird to ask who you really are? have we met?

 **Detective Alice** : once. We’ll make it a game. If you can guess who I am before you make it back to Tokyo from your trip, I’ll take you out somewhere nice. If you don’t, I’ll tell you then and I’ll still take you somewhere nice because we’re friends now, but I get to make fun of you for it.

 **Detective Alice** : Anyway, back to my deductions to astound and amaze

 **Detective Alice** : Before you came to the studio, I’d seen a familiar face in the crowd at a public event

 **Detective Alice** : the criminal transfer student and Sakamoto. And because I was deep in my own brand of awful and got off by breaking up relationships I couldn’t pass on that. I know there was gossip swirling about him dating either you or the student council prez or Haru Okumura and even if only one was true…

 **Ann** : look that’s a complex question, save it to talk about in person

 **Detective Alice** : Fair enough. Anyway, then days later I see him with you at the station where I was doing not great things to my manager and while you were the one to read me the riot act, I noticed he hadn’t turned into an Alice loving drone which was weird

 **Detective Alice** : then right after that, the calling card in Shibuya and I was literally sitting on a toilet that night reading something on my phone and stewing in resentment at the people who bullied me before when it felt like someone ran ice into my veins and how shitty what I was doing suddenly clicked

 **Detective Alice** : all I was doing was hurting people in a repetition of what happened to me, a dozen times over, and none of it was making me happier or doing what I had created Alice as a persona to do: try and help other girls who were shy or being bullied or in a bad spot feel a bit more confident in their own skin and with being who they were

 **Detective Alice** : so while I was sitting around and stewing in bed these last couple days, that interaction with you and Kurusu came to mind. He was the only person to be unaffected, and hell if I know what you do or how that stuck with me. And tracing a line back from that, the little group you guys were obviously a part of in school

 **Detective Alice** : After and before Kamoshida? You, Sakamoto, Kurusu. Soon enough the student council president was in your orbit on campus. Then Okumura, right before and then long after what happened to her father. which by the way I also never thought was you. I’ll confess I was and am a phan, and the Phantom Thieves never seemed like killers

 **Detective Alice** : So my final theory: You’re a Phantom Thief. One of the originals, with Kurusu and Sakamoto. Makoto Niijima and Haru Okumura are too. Thank them for me too?

Ann stares down at her phone. “Sooooo, fun news guys.” She laughs nervously. “She has successfully identified every Shujin member of our team. And wants me to thank you all.”

Makoto sighs while Haru gives a delighted clap. “Oh, tell her it was our pleasure. How did she know it was us?”

“She wasn’t just a Shujin student, she was one with us. Graduated with your class, says we’ve met before. And she identified Akira and Ryuji on sight at that event you got her keyword at, and his not being affected like the others…”

“Made him seem that much more likely to be a Phantom Thief, and you were with him, and then she knew all of us were friends and started socializing last year.” Makoto crosses her arms. “I have to commend her making the right deduction even if the logic has a few assumptions in it. There’s certainly other reasons to assume Akira didn’t fall under whatever she thought her spell was, given she didn’t know about the metaverse or how anything about it works.”

“Eh, when you have him no sell her mind control effect right before she has her change of heart, he just screams PC protections.” Futaba looks up from her phone. 

“Either way, what are you going to do now?” Makoto idly ruffles Futaba’s hair which elicits a squeak of surprise.

“I guess...just come clean. She got us. I won’t confirm you all, unless you want to, but she got me and I don’t think she’s going to sell us out or anything.”

**Ann** : I can neither confirm nor deny the others, but you got me ;)

 **Ann** : please don’t share

 **Detective Alice** : Of course not. Who’d believe me anyway? But I owe you all, big. From the beginning I’ve been kind of inspired by what you did, it is actually what pushed me to really start working on my clothing designs and creating Alice. You guys were out there changing the world in a big way, how could I do less than at least try to change myself and make a positive impact? I was working with my first manager on my big debut after graduation by Christmas

 **Ann** : ugh, don’t even talk to me about last Christmas.

 **Detective Alice** : aww, get stood up on a date by your mysterious criminal transfer student co-thief who you might not even be dating?

 **Ann** : no, we just fought fake god for the hearts of all humanity. longest day ever, watched myself dissolve into nothing which I’m still processing, bad times for all

 **Detective Alice** : you know I wasn’t going to ask about how you do what you do but this is making it really, really hard not to

 **Ann** : let’s save it for in person. If you don’t mind I can invite some others to hang out who might be better than me at this part

 **Detective Alice** : and just leave me to stew with that for who knows how long? Cruel, Ann Takamaki

 **Ann** : well I do like seeing people squirm. usually on their knees, of course

 **Detective Alice** : well if that isn’t curiously kinky. I might have some unpublished sketches for clothing to show you that you might like, miss model

 **Ann** : ;D

 **Ann** : oh shit, dinner time. I’m out. Chat soon?

 **Detective Alice** : sure. Thanks for listening to my conspiracy theory that turned out to be right! I’m going to drown my sorrows in videogames. Gotta get my Innocent Sin Online 2 grind going again

 **Ann** : ugh, I have like three friends who won’t shut up about that game. Pass me your online handle, I’ll see if they want to play with you

Ann rolls her neck, watching as plates of food begin being relayed out from the camper to their table. “Hey Futaba, I may have another person for your crappy four person clan on ISO 2.”

The other girl’s eyes light up. “Oh, seriously? If we get a fifth we can finally get a custom banner and armor dyes and a tier 1 hall to customize! I’m thinking dark gray and neon green, but we can hold that to a vote.” She starts rambling even faster at Akira as dinner is being dispensed and Ann puts the phone away. 

She’ll worry about figuring out who Alice Hiiragi is later. For now she has food, friends, and feels like she saw a bit of the person who might be able to rebuild and move forwards in her conversation with Alice. Or at the very least, she wants to hope so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About two weeks between chapters seemed like a good guess on my part. I had family hosting this weekend which put a kibosh on my ability to write much and left me in zero mood for the mental effort that Apex would be taking this week, so seemed like time for another lighter and fluffier chapter over here.
> 
> I'm about 90% sure this will be a five chapter fic, but I don't want to commit to that on the number counter up above till done. Mostly having fun writing character stuff and plotting out some character beats to play with since the next two are where I want to have the 'how do you really pick up and move on when you realize you're an awful person' talk and the 'how are you going to move forwards' ones. 
> 
> Either way, hope anyone who reads enjoys and any feedback is welcomed.


End file.
